Frost and White Peaches

A June 8th peach blossom!?!

Catching up with old photos, I had to share the rather amazing site of my White Peach still blossoming on June 8th!!! Even with the rather cold spring nights we've experienced this year, that date is long after most varieties of peaches bloom. Most of which happens too early in the spring and a late frost kills the developing buds or fruit. A caveat though, my White Peach was severely water-stressed this spring and looked like it was dead. Only after realizing how dry the soil was in the small gabion-dam orchard did I give it a ton of water, likely saving the tree and triggering the late bloom.

The first Frost Peach

The more reliable peach variety in this region seems to be the aptly named Frost Peach. This variety is one of three different varieties I bought grafted onto a single trunk. The tree (branch) had numerous flowers well into late May, and in early June had produced this baby peach. If it can survive the phalanx of small finches that inhabit my yard, I'll enjoy my first home-grown peach in couple months. Regarding fruit trees in Gallup, my fingers are almost sore from being crossed so much, but I'm really hoping and wishing for this little sweet summer treat.

Peach Blossoms

Loring Peach Blossom

I have 3 peach trees, and yet 5 varieties of peaches. The numerical discrepancy is because one of the trees has three different varieties grafted to a single root stock. The most vigorous of the bunch, the Loring peach, has already begun blooming. Check back to this post to see blossom dates of the other varieties and I'll post again if I actually get any peaches this year.

The arroyo orchard and gabion dam

Inspired by the Navajo's cultivation of peaches in Canyon de Chelley, I planted the three trees as bare-root stock several winters ago. I'm still looking forward to the first peaches, though this years bloom is a sure improvement over last year's single flower. Fearing the choking clay soils that seem to plague the 15 year old fruit trees in my backyard, I built a small gabion dam across the small but steep arroyo that flows through my backyard. After filling the dam with a sandy mix of soils, I armored the front with rocks. In 3 years, I've only seen surface water flowing down the canyon a handful of times, but the trees seem to love their sustainable home-- I water them only once a year in early June. Groundwater flow through the alluvial fan deposited by the arroyo takes care of the rest of the year.